Archive for July, 2010
« Previous Entries Next Entries »Sunitinib plus paclitaxel well tolerated in advanced breast cancer
Wednesday, July 14th, 2010Source: MedWire News
Sunitinib (Sutent) given in combination with paclitaxel to patients with advanced breast cancer is well tolerated, with evidence of anti-tumor activity and no drug-drug interactions, data from an exploratory study show.
Sunitinib, an angiogenesis inhibitor, has shown single-agent activity in patients with previously treated metastatic breast cancer (MBC), note Mark Kozloff (Ingalls Memorial Hospital, [...]
Osteoporosis Canada publishes new vitamin D guidelines
Tuesday, July 13th, 2010Updated guidelines from Osteoporosis Canada recommend that adults with osteoporosis take a minimum of 25 mg (800 IU) of vitamin D daily.
“Adequate vitamin D is an essential factor in the prevention of osteoporosis and may reduce the risk for other medical disorders unrelated to bone and mineral metabolism,” say David Hanley (University of Calgary Health [...]
Diabetes, dysglycemia are independent risk factors for vascular disease
Tuesday, July 13th, 2010Diabetes confers around a two-fold increased risk for vascular disease, independently of other conventional risk factors, a major meta-analysis shows.
The study, by the Emerging Risk Factors Collaboration, also found a correlation between fasting glucose levels above a certain threshold and the risk for coronary heart disease.
However, it remains unknown whether the spectrum of dysglycemia (including [...]
Pioglitazone lowers hepatic triglyceride content and raises HDL in diabetics
Monday, July 12th, 2010Source: MedWire News
Treating diabetic patients with the thiazolidinedione pioglitazone significantly decreases triglyceride content in the liver and reduces cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) mass, research shows.
In addition, treatment with pioglitazone was also associated with an accompanying increase in high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels.
The findings, report Jacqueline Jonker (Leiden University Medical Center, The Netherlands) and colleagues [...]
Long-term quality of life hit by ischemic stroke
Sunday, July 11th, 2010Patients’ quality of life may continue to decline for at least 5 years after a stroke, show findings from the Northern Manhattan Study.
But the impact of stroke on quality of life is determined by patients’ health insurance status, report Mandip Dhamoon (Columbia University, New York, USA) and colleagues in the journal Neurology.
The study included 525 participants, [...]
Psychotic patients have enhanced sensitivity to cannabis
Sunday, July 11th, 2010Patients with psychosis are more susceptible to the effects of cannabis than mentally healthy controls, showing pronounced mood enhancement and hallucinatory experiences after use, study results show.
Among patients, mood enhancement after cannabis use was only acute, while the hallucinatory effects were more lasting.
Cécile Henquet (Maastricht University Medical Centre, The Netherlands) and colleagues say that this [...]
Asthma, COPD linked to reduced BMD, fractures in men
Sunday, July 11th, 2010Source: MedWire News
Asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are independently associated with reduced bone mineral density (BMD) and an increased risk for fractures in men, study results show.
“A history of COPD or asthma may be a useful clinical risk factor to identify patients with osteoporosis,” suggest Thuy Dam (Columbia University, New York, USA) and [...]
Ezetimibe reduces ox-LDL levels
Friday, July 9th, 2010Source: MedWire News
Adding ezetimibe to atorvastatin decreases levels of oxidized low-density lipoprotein (ox-LDL) cholesterol in patients with coronary heart disease (CAD) or an equivalent condition, research shows.
“Ox-LDL level correlates with the vulnerability of atherosclerotic lesions,” say Rabih Azar and colleagues from Hôtel Dieu de France Hospital in Beirut, Lebanon.
“Reduction of ox-LDL level by ezetimibe therapy [...]
J&J Expands OTC Drug Recall.
Friday, July 9th, 2010The AP (7/9) reports that Johnson & Johnson’s “McNeil Consumer Healthcare business said it is recalling 21 lots of over-the-counter drugs,” including Benadryl, Children’s Tylenol, Motrin IB, Tylenol Extra Strength, Tylenol Day & Night, and Tylenol PM “sold in the US, Puerto Rico, Fiji, Guatemala, the Dominican Republic, Trinidad and Tobago, [...]
Moderate-dose aspirin linked to lower all-cause mortality in diabetics
Thursday, July 8th, 2010Source: MedWire News
Results from a meta-analysis show that moderate-dose aspirin can significantly reduce all-cause mortality in diabetic patients.
Low-dose aspirin is recommended for cardiovascular (CV) risk reduction in at-risk patients with Type 2 diabetes, but there has been some debate about the ideal dosage to use, and recent studies, such as JPAD (Japanese Primary prevention of [...]
